Author Donald Honig has written nearly forty books about baseball.
Ron Boyer is the brother of Clete Boyer and Ken Boyer. He played in the Yankees’ farm system for eight years, reaching AAA.
Outfielder Alexander Cole played for the Twins in 1994-1995. He was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, attended Manatee Community College of Bradenton, Florida, and was taken by St. Louis in the second round of the 1985 January draft. A speedy singles hitter with no power at all, he didn’t hit enough singles to really establish himself after getting to AAA in 1986. Cole moved around a few times in AAA–he did not hit enough to make the team he was with want to keep him, but he was so fast that there was always someone who wanted him. Traded from St. Louis to San Diego to Cleveland, Cole made his debut with the Indians in July of 1990. He posted good batting averages as a part-time player in 1990 and 1991, but after a poor start in 1992 he was traded to Pittsburgh. After the 1992 season, the Colorado Rockies selected Cole in the expansion draft. He played for the Rockies in 1993, but hit only .256 as a semi-regular center fielder and became a free agent. He was signed by the Twins at the start of spring training in 1994 and stayed in Minnesota for two years. Cole did well as a part-time player for the Twins in 1994, hitting .296 with an OBP of .375. Unfortunately, he was injured much of 1995 and became a free agent after that season. He hit , batting .304 with a .381 OBP in 424 at-bats. He again became a free agent after the 1995 season and signed with Boston for 1996, his last year in the big-leagues. Cole was in the Marlins organization for part of 1997 and then spent a few years playing independent ball before calling it a career after the 2001 season. Sadly, life after baseball does not seem to have gone well for him: in 2002, Cole was sentenced to 18 months in prison possession of heroin with the intent to distribute, and in 2006, a $30,000 judgment was entered against him for running up credit card bills under someone else’s name. He does appear to have straightened out his life after that, and split his time between Florida and North Carolina. Alex Cole passed away on August 19, 2023, at the young age of fifty-eight.
Left-hander Michael Warren Maroth did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 2010. Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, he attended the University of Central Florida and was drafted by Boston in the third round in 1998. He showed some promise in the Red Sox’ system, but was traded to Detroit at the July, 1999 deadline for Bryce Florie. He struggled in the Tigers’ system until 2002, when he went 8-1, 2.82 in eleven starts for AAA Toledo. He made his big league debut that season, making 21 starts for the Tigers and not pitching too badly. The next year, 2003, Detroit made a serious run at having the worst record in the history of baseball, and Maroth became a symbol of their futility, losing 21 games. He was not that horrible, but he wasn’t all that good, either, posting an ERA of 5.73 and a WHIP of 1.45. He was in the rotation for two more seasons and was fairly average. He was off to a good start in 2006 but was injured, missing most of the year. He was back in the rotation in 2007 but did not pitch well and was traded to St. Louis in June. He did worse there and was allowed to become a free agent after the season. He signed with Kansas City for 2008, but was released in late April and was out of baseball the rest of the year. He signed with Toronto for 2009 but was released in late March and was out of baseball again. The Twins signed him for 2010 and sent him to Rochester. He got off to a decent start, but was injured after only three starts. He made a rehab appearance in late July, but that was it for him as a Twin. He became a free agent after the season and pitched in winter ball, but did not sign with anyone for 2011 and officially retired on January 25, 2011. He has since spent some time as a minor league pitching coach, most recently as the pitching coach of Gwinnett in the Braves organization. Mike Maroth was the pitching coach for the University of Central Florida in 2023, but apparently was not retained for 2024. No information about what Mike Maroth is doing this summer was readily available.
Infielder James Kyle Farmer has played for the Twins since 2023. Born and raised in Atlanta, he attended the University of Georgia and was drafted by the Dodgers in the eighth round in 2013. He was a steady batter throughout the minors, never producing eye-popping stats but always posting solid numbers. He reached AA in 2015, AAA in 2017, and the majors in late 2017. He started 2018 in the majors as a part-time third baseman, but did not hit much and was sent down in mid-May, coming back as a September call-up. He was traded to Cincinnati after the 2018 season. He was a utility player for them in 2019-2020, was their starting shortstop in 2021, and was their mostly regular shortstop in 2022, although he saw significant time at third base. He had decent batting averages, but mediocre on-base percentages and little power. After the 2022 season he was traded to Minnesota for Casey Legumina. He has gone back to the utility role for the Twins, seeing substantial time at third, second, and short. His offensive numbers were about at his career numbers in 2023, but are down in 2024. He turns thirty-four today. He is what he is, someone who can play all over the infield and not be an automatic out at the plate. He may or may not be back with the Twins next year, but we suspect he will be filling a utility role somewhere in 2025.
No comments:
Post a Comment